Tuesday, December 03, 2013

December 03 - Going Back To 1969

The new TNT Records importlabel announced their first CD release "Going Back To Houston" containing two performances from June 4 and 5, 1975 as recorded in Houston.

From the press-release:
Welcome to the first CD release by TNT Records. With a little help from our friends at “Audionics” - probably THE premium label when it comes to rare recordings in best possible sound - we decided to “dive deep” into one of the most well-known concert tours Elvis ever did. Much has been written about “Tour Number 14” (May 30 – June 10, 1975) so we don't want to bother you too much with even “more” information. 

On this brandnew double-cd set (Release Date: December 10, 2013) you are going to hear both concerts Elvis did right in the middle of the tour. Concerts number 9 and 10 took place in Houston, Texas. Although the reporters from the local papers “Houston Chronicle” (Dale Adamson) and “The Houston Post” (Bob Claypool) were not too happy with the way Elvis presented himself (you will see their original newspaper articles pictured in the 16-page booklet that comes with the cd) the excited crowd at the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston still loved Elvis as they did since the 1950's. 

“Audionics” helped us to make a significant improvement in the sound of the two soundboard recordings. If you have missed the show´s first releases from more than 10 years ago or if you want to owe them in better sound than before plus exactly the way they were recorded (without the standard “2001 Theme / See See Rider” opening) you should not miss this great new double cd! Ask your local dealer for it, he should have it right in time before Christmas for you!

Tracks:
CD1 – Houston, June 4, 1975
01. Amen / I Got A Woman (incomplete) 02. Love Me 03. If You Love Me (Let Me Know) 04. Love Me Tender 05. All Shook Up 06. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 07. Hound Dog 08. The Eyes Of Texas (one liner) 09. The Wonder Of You 10. Burning Love 11. Band Introductions 12. Johnny B. Goode 13. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) 14. Bass Solo (Blues - Jerry Scheff) 15. Piano Solo (Glen D. Hardin) 16. School Day 17. T.R.O.U.B.L.E. 18. Why Me Lord 19. How Great Thou Art (with reprise) 20. Let Me Be There 21. An American Trilogy 22. Funny How Time Slips Away (with reprise) 23. Little Darlin' (with reprise) 24. Mystery Train / Tiger Man 25. Can't Help Falling In Love 26. Closing Vamp

CD2 – Houston, June 5, 1975
01. Amen / I Got A Woman (incomplete) 02. Love Me 03. If You Love Me (Let Me Know) 04. Love Me Tender 05. All Shook Up 06. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 07. Hound Dog 08. The Wonder Of You (with false start) 09. Burning Love 10. Band Introductions 11. Johnny B. Goode 12. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) 13. Bass Solo (Blues - Jerry Scheff) 14. Piano Solo (Glen D. Hardin) 15. School Day 16. T.R.O.U.B.L.E. 17. Trying To Get To You 18. How Great Thou Art (with reprise) 19. Let Me Be There 20. You Gave Me A Mountain 21. An American Trilogy 22. Little Darlin' (with reprise) 23. Mystery Train / Tiger Man 24. Funny How Time Slips Away 25. Can't Help Falling In Love 26. Closing Vamp.


Elvis 69


Gravel Road Music will release a 3CD box soon, with 1969 as subject.

From the press-release:
This release is intended to be a flawless release with the best sounding Elvis of 1969. We started by going back to the basic recordings of the American sound studio; the edited repaired master tracks without the dubbing done later in Nashville.

Elvis himself wasn’t all that thrilled with some of the overdubs. It’s been said that he was very happy with the sound on the acetates that he took home with him, but less so with the final masters. Elvis heard the dubbed masters at a very late stage and very little could be done. 

As an artist, you can’t always be in complete control of your output, and clearly especially when your name is Elvis Presley. These original master tracks were the result of the joint vision of producer Chips Moman, the musicians and Elvis.

The two most famous songs from these sessions are without a doubt “Suspicious Minds” and “In The Ghetto”. In fact, they may well be the best-known recordings of his entire career. Just ask anyone to name two Elvis songs…

On disc 2 you will find the multi-track live recording of the August 24, 1969 Midnight Show. Thanks to existing tape legends, paperwork and research and the fantastic unprocessed soundboard recording of the same show, we were able to piece this show together as it was originally recorded. We double-checked and compared the whole show second for second with an audience recording of the show that we had recently acquired. There are only three songs borrowed from the dinner show: “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, “Runaway” and “ What’d I Say”, which are 98% identical to the midnight show versions. We used the career dialogue from the August 24, 1969 dinner show. We don’t have this in multi-track quality and therefore we decided to include a third disc with the original raw unrepaired soundboard. As extra bonus, we used a very rare tape of a rehearsal from January 1969 at the American Sound Studios, where we can even hear a glimpse of Roy Hamilton singing! (Editor Note: it probably is Dan Penn).

The combination package “Elvis In Person & Back in Memphis” was the basic concept, but we wanted more. During the first days of the comeback in Las Vegas in 1969, special RCA presentation box sets were given away. These box sets are very rare and expensive to get hold of. This was the perfect 1969 package idea for this release. Included are:
  • A 28 page full color /b&w photo folio with 28 photos of Elvis in the style of 1969 including rare or unpublished photos
  • A 32 page full color booklet with original articles
  • An interview with Elvis from 1969, co-workers and musicians about recording at the American Sound Studios and performing in Las Vegas 
  • Over 60+ photos of Elvis on stage (many from the same show), various are rare or unpublished 
  • 15 incredible photos of The American Sound Studio with Elvis, again some are rare or unpublished
  • Previously unreleased versions
  • A rare studio rehearsal of January 1969
  • The unaltered raw audio of the August 24, 1969 M/S soundboard
  • The reproduction slipcase of the famous 1969 presentation box set
  • All recordings in excellent sound quality
We hope you’ll agree we did our best to respect and honour the original artistic ideas from 1969.

Disc 1: In Memphis Undubbed Repaired Masters

01. Wearin' That Loved On Look 02. Only The Strong Survive 03. I'll Hold You In My Heart 04. Long Black Limousine 05. It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin' 06. I'm Movin' On 07. Power Of My Love 08. Gentle On My Mind 09. After Loving You 10. True Love Travels On A Gravel Road 11. Any Day Now 12. In The Ghetto 13. Inherit The Wind 14. This Is The Story 15. Stranger In My Own Home Town 16. A Little Bit Of Green 17. And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind 18. Do You Know Who I Am? 19. From A Jack To A King 20. The Fair's Moving On 21. You'll Think Of Me 22. Without Love (There Is Nothing) 23. Suspicious Minds.

Tracks 1-12 were in fully dubbed versions released on “From Elvis In Memphis”. These were the only songs besides the single “Suspicious Minds” intended for release of the magnificent studio recordings at the American Sound Studios.
The tremendous enthusiasm provoked using the remaining recordings as well. It was proven right - it sold multi platinum.

Tracks 13 -22 were fully dubbed versions released on “Back In Memphis” which was also released as a double release with Elvis In Person as, “From Memphis to Vegas - From Vegas to Memphis”. Track 23 was released as single and not added to either of the two studio albums. An extended live version was released on “Elvis In Person”. Note: This disc includes some previously unreleased versions.

Disc 2: In Person Live “On Stage” Multi -Track

01. Opening 02. Blue Suede Shoes 03. I Got A Woman 04. All Shook Up 05. Love Me Tender 06. Medley : Jailhouse Rock – Don’t Be Cruel 07. Heartbreak Hotel 08. Hound Dog 09. I Can’t Stop Loving You* 10. Johnny B. Goode 11. Monologue* (Life Story) 12. Baby What You Want Me To Do 13. Runaway* 14. Are You Lonesome Tonight ? 15. Words 16. Yesterday (with “Hey Jude” Ending) 17. Band Introductions 18. In The Ghetto 19. Suspicious Minds 20. What’d I Say* 21. Can’t Help Falling In Love / Outro

Disc two contains the multi track live recording of August 24, 1969 Midnight Show. The Multi track recording has been repaired with segments of the August 24, 1969 Dinner Show. Tracks marked with * are taken from the Dinner Show.

Disc 3: Raw Audio Unedited Soundboard & Studio Rehearsal

01. Opening 02. Blue Suede Shoes 03. I Got A Woman 04. All Shook Up 05. Love Me Tender 06. Medley : Jailhouse Rock – Don’t Be Cruel 07. Heartbreak Hotel 08. Hound Dog 09. I Can’t Stop Loving You 10. Johnny B. Goode 11. Monologue (Life Story) 12. Baby What You Want Me To Do 13. Runaway 14. Are You Lonesome Tonight ? 15. Words 16. Yesterday (with “Hey Jude” Ending) 17. Band Introductions 18. In The Ghetto 19. Suspicious Minds (Partially).

Bonus track (20+ minutes) 20. Band Rehearsal and a first attempt of “Come Out, Come Out (Wherever you are)” at American Sound studios (Roy Hamilton can be heard here) January, 1969.

Disc three contains the raw unprocessed soundboard recording of the August 24, 1969 M/S, without effects. A significantly different August 24, Midnight Show when compared to the fragmented release over the years of the multi track recording. Edited due to improper language use or running times. Also segments of this show were used to repair or enhance other 1969 and 1970 multi track recordings. This is the real deal, uncut, raw and finally, no tons of reverb as on previous releases of this remarkable show.

(Source: FECC / Elvis Telegraph)